Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Here are some designs and poses I did while we explored the look of the Turbo Toilet 2000 for Captain Underpants:The First Epic Movie. In the movie the Turbo Toilet 2000 is a 100 ft transformer style robot that Professor Poopypants rides in and controls. I thought it would be funny if the Turbo Toilets movements and behavior was a direct reflection of how Poopypants was acting and behaving while inside. In the film, we leaned into this idea, and the Turbo Toilet became an extension of Poppypants behavior.

Thursday, January 25, 2018

10 Little Ninjas was recently received the Missouri Building Block Picture book Award. This award is given annually to the picture book voted most popular by preschool children in the state of Missouri, which is pretty cool considering how honest kids are with what they like and don’t like…lol. If you’d like to pick up this book you can buy it online at the links below:

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Winter Semester for my Online Character Design Classes are starting up in about 2-3 weeks. I’ll post more info this week on each class, but for now if you’d like to check out the classes I’ll be teaching you can read more about them and sign up at the links below:

Monday, December 04, 2017

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

The Hollywood Reporterrecently published an article about Production Design in this years animated films, and I feel honored to be included for Production Designing Captain Underpants. For the full article, clickHERE

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Part 2 of color scripting the afternoon time lapse in George and Harold’s tree house. This was fun playing with not only the time of day change in terms of color palette, but also how the light traveled around the tree house as the sun was setting.

Monday, September 25, 2017

Color scripting this section of Captain Underpants was fun, we start with the boys tree house, which essentially is a complete opposite in tone from the school. As they spend the afternoon making their latest comic, we got to play with the transition from afternoon, to magic hour, to dusk / dinner time lighting and color.

Monday, September 18, 2017

More Captain Underpants color script / color keys work I did for the film. In the production design of the film, I really wanted to push for an “institutional” look in the style and color of the school location, giving it a penitentiary vibe instead of an elementary vibe. That feeling is ever present in the books from author / illustrator Dav Pilkey, and I love how it gives the school a great sense of character in the film. Our director David Soren really embraced this concept, and helped us push for this in the design and tone of the film.

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

A Spider-Man Demo I did for my online character design class last night. This was a fun request, Spider-Man has always been my favorite superhero,but it’s been too long to remember since I last drew him.

If you are interested in seeing more character design demos / lectures of mine, I have a new semester of online character design classes that start soon, so if you are interested you can register for them below:

Friday, June 02, 2017

Today marks the release of Dreamworks “CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS:The First Epic Movie.” I Production Designed the movie and was so lucky to have worked with the best group of artists I could have ever asked for. While our art department was small, we were jam packed with talent that inspired every ounce of the look of this film. Above you’ll see a painting of mine, and some vis dev from Chris Zibach, Perry Dixon Maple, Rune Bennicke, Floriane Marchix, and Avner Gellar.

We also had, and this can’t be understated, these AMAZING books to be inspired by each and every day to help guide us on our design / adaptation journey. It’s because of these books, and Dav Pilkey (the author / illustrator) that we had this movie to make. Dav Pilkey is a genius, and one of the best artists I’ve ever come across, and I hope he know’s that our art department honored and cherished his work each an everyday and I think that really shows in our faithful adaptation of his work up onto the big screen.

Our Director David Soren, Producers Mark Swift and Mireille Soria also deserve a big shout out as well. The trust and support they provided each and every day allowed our art department to flourish. Easily one of the best, most creative teams I have ever been around.

Also, a huge thanks to the entire team at Mikros. I spent half of my time during this production there in studio with you all in Montreal and Paris, and each and everyone of you helped make this amazing movie. Your tireless work, and dedication to this film is why it looks so fantastic, thank you all.

I’ve posted few pieces of the vis dev work above and will post more in the coming weeks, but if you get the chance, go see the movie it’s out today and track down the Art of Book ( pictured above ) which you can find in stores and online.

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

As the marketing campaign starts to roll out for our movie, I thought I’d post some of our main characters fromCaptain Underpants : The First Epic Movie. These are our CG Renders from the film, so big shout out to all the amazing artists who helped bring these to life! The movie hit’s theaters June, 2nd!

Saturday, December 24, 2016

Tra-La_la!!! Hey everyone, Entertainment Weekly
has posted a first look and interview about the movie I’m Production
Designing for Dreamworks. I’m so excited for you all to see the amazing
work that all the talented artists I’ve worked with have done to create
this spectacular film. Thanks to our fantastic Director and Producers
this film has been a blast to be a part of, can’t wait for you all to
see it June 2nd, 2017.

Thursday, October 20, 2016

I recently had the wonderful privilege to speak with the very talented
Nick Patton on his Picturebooking Podcast about a few of the most recent
books I’ve illustrated. One of the books we speak in depth about is
Monster Trucks, written by the great Anika Denise. Among other things
we also chatted about during the podcast was another recent release of
mine 10 Little Ninjas that was written by the fantastic Miranda Paul.
So if you are looking for a fun conversation about illustrating books,
design, and visual storytelling, then have a listen and check out the
link below:

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

This weekend marks the beginning of a new term of my online character design classes. If you are looking to continue to develop you character design skills and are looking for industry professional courses and critiques, check out the links below to the two classes I'm offering this term. The courses both run for 8 weeks, and the lectures and video demos can be viewed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for your convenience. We do have a scheduled 1 hr live Q & Q where we can discuss the topics of the course, industry questions, or more live demo's upon request. Assignments are also provided with a video recording of draw over notes, so that you can not only receive a critique of your work, but see draw over suggestions of how you can improve and strengthen your design. So if you are interested in signing up, or are just looking for a little bit more info on these classes, please check the links below.

Tuesday, October 04, 2016

Now in stores and online “10 Little Ninjas” is here! It’s a new book
that I recently illustrated, it’s written by the very talented Miranda
Paul. It was a blast working on this “Ninja” version of a classic story
rhyme. I’ll post some peeks into the book soon, but if you are looking
to pick this one up you can find it in a variety of places in stores
and online:

Thursday, September 15, 2016

A bunch of reviews have been coming in this summer for the book I illustrated "MONSTER TRUCKS" written by Anika Denise. A few of them are posted below.

★ “It’s a mash-up made in heaven (or maybe hell): ghoulish monsters and larger-than-life vehicles decked out with oversize tires, spikes, and menacing grins. After Denise (Baking Day at Grandma’s) gets introductions out of the way (“Frankentruck is first to arrive./ With a jump of his cables,He’s alive! He’s alive!”), the race is on. The competitors include Vampire Truck, Zombie Truck, and—what’s this?—“a little blue bus looking perky… and cute.” The VW-bus-style newcomer quickly makes short work of the larger, fiercer racers, and a kicker reveals that she’s more than just a pretty fascia. Wragg (Elwood Bigfoot: Friends Wanted!) creates some wicked vehicular hybrids—Ghost Truck fittingly evokes an old Rolls Royce Phantom—and eerie green skies and yellow moonlight set the stage for full-throttle Halloween fun.”—Publishers Weekly(starred review)

“‘MONSTER TRUCKS REV! MONSTER TRUCKS GO!!!’ As a crowd of creepy creatures gathers to watch, five monster trucks—Frankentruck, Werewolf Truck, Zombie Truck, Ghost Truck, and Vampire Truck—prepare for a nighttime race. Suddenly, a ‘little blue bus” appears on the track ‘looking perky and cute.’ The larger, meaner trucks smell fresh meat, but after an exciting race, they;re left in her dust. The book goes beyond the simple underdog story, and the very end (‘But HOW did she do it?’) offers a clever Halloween-themed twist. In the energetic rhyming text, exclamation points are plentiful and the action never stops. Vivid colors and textures give the cartoony acrylic and digital illustrations a bold and lively (despite the undead) look.”–The Horn Book

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

I had the awesome opportunity a while back to Art Direct a Kung Fu Panda half hour special titled “Secrets of the Scroll” for Dreamworks. It was directed by the incredible talent Rodolphe Guenoden and was a blast to work on. I was also lucky to have such an inspiring team of artists working with me :Chris Zibach,Jason Brubaker, Erik Tilmans, Rich Ramazinski, Jason Stoval,Griselda Sastrawinata,Natalie Franscioni-Karp and countless other amazing artists who helped contribute to this awesome special. Above are just a few of the painting I did for the show, but there are tons more in the special from the artists listed above as there is over 18 min of 2D animation in the special. KFP Secrets of the Scroll is on Netflix so check it out!